The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1887-02-24
4 Southern story OF yicksbnrg.

1t JolHeH our company Ill N1ckSbtirg
just before the siege. and none Of us
felt enough interest in him to make any
inquiries. His extreme youth (he was
about ICY would have excited our SYM
pathy under other circumstances. but
the war-worn veterans in the trenches
had no use for the curled darlings OF
the parlor, and Little Dandy'S appear
ance was against him. The lad wore
the gray uniform Of private, but it
was of the very finest material-finer
than anything worn by our Generals.
His buttons had an unsoldierls glitter.
He >pori,d white handkcrchiefs. carried
pocket mirror, and every morning
hr conbed and curled his golden locks
until they looked ike 4 girls tresses.
Hello. Little Dandy" yelled the
soldiers, whenever the young fellow
passed them. To this rough salutation
he always responded with bow and a
smile. but his soft ways did not win
favor. When We met in town We pass
cd him BY without notice, and in camp
we let him alone. Little Dandy was
proud after fashion-too proud to
notice the many Sights heaped upon
him. He went through the routine du-
ties without complaint, but nothing
could induce him to abandon his pocket
mirror and his fancy toilets.
The siege was well under way and
we were no better acquainted with
Little Dandy than ut first. lie shared
onr meals of moldy corn bread and
mule meat without Il murmur, and il
must be admitted that this raised him
somewhat in our estimation. But we
still had to learn what true heart beat
behind those glittering buttons. An
angle Of the enemy works was danger
ously close to our intrenchments and
we had to keep our heads well sheltered
When we raised Il hat on the muzzle oi
a mnsket it was invariably riddled with
bullets. One morning we found our
men being picked off BY an unseen
sharpshooter at the rate of five or six
an hour. This astonished us, because
we were all keeping under cover, and
the men who were killed all occupied
well-protected positions.
Where was the sharpshooter? This
was the uppermost question in every
mind. We were not long in satisfying
ourselves on this point. Just outside
Of the angle sf the Federal works stood
giant oak. whose leafy top afforded
an admirable covert for an active rifle
man. 4 yigilant scrutiny convinced
us that the man who was doing such
deadly work in our ranks was concealed
in this tree. To reach it he must have
made his way there during the night,
and he would have to remain there all
day. But we could not stand it even
one day. His aim was 50 unerring
that every time his rifle cracked Con.
federate bit the dust. We tried rat
Ting discharge of musketry, but q
moment later the report of the rifle
rang out, and another Of our comrades
fell.
1t was evident that. from our posi-.
tion, it was almost impossible to hit the
Federal riileman. If we succeeded in
bringing him down it would be by
some lucky random shot. Possibly Il
man outside the works would be able
to draw head on our wary foenan,
but he would be under the guns Of thu
enemy and there would be thousand
chances against him.
I'LL kill him or die?" cried Il shrill
voice.
..Good God. it's Little Dandy
shouted dozen men.
At the risk of our lives we peeped
over our breastworks. Little Dandy
had already made his way to the open
space between the works and was
edging around on the right Of the tree
The Felerals saw what he was up te
and tired broadside. When the
smoke cleared away aud they saw the
boy with flushed face and streaming
hair aiming his gun ut the top of ths
old oak there was 4 tremendous cheer
1t rolled along both lines-the hoarss
Federal shout mingling with the will
Rebel yell"
Bang! A man in blue came tnmbline
and crashing through the branches O
the tree and struck the ground with ;
dull thud. 1t was the sharpshooter
Another cheer rent the air. but thi.
time it came from the Confederate
alone. A sheet Of flame blazed along
the Federal works. but when thu
smoke lifted we saw Little Dandy com
/! ing full tilt in cur direction with /.
smile ON his face.
..Three ch GERS for Little Dandy.
leaped from hundreds of throats, a
the boy vaulted over the brcastworks
and we rushed down upon him to hn:
him. in our frenzy Of admiration ant
JOY. But Little Dandy sunk dowi
upon heap of loose dirt. aud then ",
saw the crimson stains upon his breast
Il kept my promise. he painted
And then as our Colonel took his hand
the little chap looked up into his fac,
and said:
I'm afraid I've made a poor sol
dier. Sometimes I've bothered YOU.
know. But always wanted to he'll
YOU. Please remember that was no
very strong. and-and did the best
could
His head fell over. Poor Little Dan
dy was dead.-.ltlanta Constitution.
The Modest Princess.